Here I am today at Vancouver Change Camp. The photo is by Jean Djinni. More on my day at this excellent gathering.

More photos from the day at Flickr.

The three participation plays from the United Workers Our Harbor Day are now posted and can be viewed below. The United Workers is a human rights organization led by low-wage workers in Baltimore, MD.

Hundreds of workers and allies were involved in the writing, preparation and performance of the plays, which were part of a year-long community planning process. Related events included a trip from Baltimore to Immokalee, FL for workers to share ideas on using theatre in education (including a stop in Philadelphia to share ideas with MMP media makers), the Justice Theatre Conference that brought together puppeteers, Theatre of the Oppressed facilitators and demonstration strategists, and the Artful Activism Summit with the Backbone Campaign. The day was a wonderful community building day, bringing people together to celebrate human rights and demand justice for all.

“Education” Participation Play

“Work” Participation Play

“Earth” Participation Play

May 6 was my final day working as a staff Leadership Organizer with the United Workers. I am excited to start focusing on child care organizing, but will miss the incredible times I have had with the leaders, staff and allies of the United Workers.

There are so many transformative moments and processes that the United Workers has provided, including all-night vigils, planning and coordinating an announced hunger strike (called off because demands were met), powerful retreats, leadership schools, worship services, rallies, quiet times together, intense planning and strategy sessions and expressive and creative protests. Thank you, United Workers, for so much! I look forward to being an ally and friend to organization, and to seeing how the organization develops in the years to come.

Looking back at the final week… Here’s a photo taken right after Our Harbor Day, working on media right after Our Harbor Day:

From Indypendent Reader:

On October 25, 2008 the United Workers extended their human rights campaign into the Downtown Inner Harbor, where developers General Growth Properties and Cordish companies own a majority of the commercial space. The United Workers declared the Inner Harbor a “Human Rights Zone” demanding work with dignity, education, and health care. Although the Harbor is Baltimore’s tourism hub, workers receive minimum wage and suffer under poor working conditions such as sexual harassment, being terminated due to pregnancy, stolen tips and unpaid wages, and working sick or injured.

United Workers ally and former leadership organizer Tom Kertes said, “Without time and work and community there will be no justice.”

“Our involvement makes history,” said Kertes. “Our solidarity is our power.” read more

From a recent article I wrote for Labor Notes, on the Human Rights Zone Campaign in Baltimore:

Baltimore needs a jolt. Poverty conditions for workers in the city’s Inner Harbor, a premier tourist and entertainment district, are threatening to become routine. Workers relate stories of poverty wages, sexual harassment, uncertain scheduling, inadequate health care, barriers to education, and unreasonable hours.

“Just because these are ordinary practices doesn’t make them tolerable,” said Luis Larin, an organizer with United Workers, a worker center founded in 2002 by homeless day laborers. It is intent on turning the retail zone, home to 1,000 service workers, into a “human rights zone.” read more

BaltimoreSun-launch

Baltimore Sun: Workers Unite for Human Rights [PDF] (October 26, 2008)

The Inner Harbor laborers, who work in restaurants and janitorial services, were joined by United Workers Association members from Camden Yards who successfully waged a three-year battle for better wages and working conditions.

Last year, the Maryland Stadium Authority agreed to pay workers – who were making $7 an hour to pick up trash at Camden Yards – the state’s new $11.30-an-hour “living wage,” beginning last spring.

“Workers have identified the same issues that were found at Camden Yards as being present in the Inner Harbor, so we are transferring our efforts from Camden Yards to here, and we hope to be victorious,” said Tom Kertes, a UWA leadership organizer.

“We’re putting the Inner Harbor on notice. Workers here are demanding that we start the process, and employers have a responsibility to their workers,” he said. “And on April 18, 2009, we are going to publicly identify the worst offender.”

Kertes said the UWA has yet to speak with business operators in the Inner Harbor, but, he said, “We will be doing that very soon.”

Kertes said that the UWA is not a union and does not engage in collective bargaining.

“We believe instead in moral outrage,” he said. “Every low-wage worker is entitled to the same longtime respect other workers are given.”

Here’s a piece I wrote for the first national issue of the Indypendent Reader:

Following the events of the B-More Fair and Human Rights Zone March held on April 18 in Baltimore City, Rev. Heber Brown III wrote some powerful words on his blog Faith in Action about the day, writing that without exaggeration, [today] was the most organized, diverse, and strategic community activism event that I have ever been a part of in this city. These are powerful words from an experienced and already committed community organizer and leader. Rev. Brown’s words say a lot about the many people who made April 18 happen, adding meaning to the day’s community fair and solidarity march from Carroll Park to the Inner Harbor, where low-wage workers demanded respect and dignity at work. read more